National Parks of Taiwan

While carrying out a nighttime sea bed survey in the latter part of May, a Kenting National Park Headquarters employee discovered an individual sea urchin that was not one of the 23 species previously recorded in the waters off Kenting near the water outlet. Dr. Zhao Shi-min, of the National Museum of Natural Science, identified it as a rare visitor to Taiwan, Prionocidaris verticillata (Lamarck, 1816). This discovery takes the number of sea urchin species recorded in the waters off Kenting to 24. This service is widely distributed in the Indian Ocean and West Pacific and is found as far north as Japan’s Sagami Bay, however is seldom seen in the waters off Taiwan;it is a small sea urchin that usually has a shell diameter of 3-4 cm. 

A Kenting national park spokesperson said that sea urchins mainly eat algae and the space they clear helps coral polyps attach and grow and the holes they did can provide shelter for other animals, adding to marine diversity, making it regarded as one of the key species in a marine ecosystem, however, they are under pressure from habitat destruction and excessive harvesting. One example of this pressure is the illegal harvesting case that occurred in the Houbihu area on the afternoon of May 19, 2011. As a result of the efforts of many people, the offender has admitted his guilt and has been punished according to the law, however the damage to ecological environment may be irreversible;any ecological destruction should be tolerated.

Kenting National Park Headquarters reminds people: The quality of the environment in which the people of Taiwan live depends on maintaining biodiversity and the competent agencies have a duty to prevent destruction of the natural environment and biodiversity. This endeavor, also however, requires the efforts of everyone to be really effective. Together, Kenting  National Park Headquarters and Dr. Zhao Shi-min have together produced a Kenting ocean area sea urchin conservation wall chart. Organizations and schools interested in receiving this wall chart should contact the national park headquarters.